MMmmm, I'm not sure they did though? I don't ever remember Merc or even MS saying that MS was going to come in and turn the team around? Hoping maybe, but not pinning their flag to the wall as they are right now??

Well, Nico's support team includes his dad, Keke, who was brash, intelligent, tough & fair driver. I think he's there to give extra push to Nico if needed (although Nico already has more experience in F1).

This will be an awesome battle straight out the gate although something tells me nico might just have him in the beginning, as I believe and have for about 3yrs now that rosberg is ready to crack in terms of serious consistent results we saw early this year he can lead and win from a well earned pole over just one lap in q3, as for Hamilton I predict mid season he will be quite quick but the issue here is has Michael really made a difference to the merc on to take 2-3 yrs to implement it there fore when Lewis actually succeeds it will look greater than It actually is I mean every one knows schumi made a vast improvement this yr and the standings do no justice on a poor reliability front. No doubt Lewis will make a positive impact but I think its unfair to sit back and say schuy had nothing to do with it if it's a regular winning car.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

He's never been team mates with Rosberg in an F1 car though, so no one knows yet how he will compare with a modern day F1 Nico Rosberg.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

He's never been team mates with Rosberg in an F1 car though, so no one knows yet how he will compare with a modern day F1 Nico Rosberg.

Right, and Button mentioned that as well. Rosberg may be able to match or come close to hamilton when the car is good on that particular weekend, but when the car is not so good Hamilton is one of the few that can extract a lot more out of it, hence Button's point. In a separate article Button also said he had the mp4-27 was the worst McLaren of his years there. It's safe to say he was impressed with what Lewis was able to do this year in that car. Just food for thought.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

He's never been team mates with Rosberg in an F1 car though, so no one knows yet how he will compare with a modern day F1 Nico Rosberg.

Right, and Button mentioned that as well. Rosberg may be able to match or come close to hamilton when the car is good on that particular weekend, but when the car is not so good Hamilton is one of the few that can extract a lot more out of it, hence Button's point. In a separate article Button also said he had the mp4-27 was the worst McLaren of his years there. It's safe to say he was impressed with what Lewis was able to do this year in that car. Just food for thought.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

He's never been team mates with Rosberg in an F1 car though, so no one knows yet how he will compare with a modern day F1 Nico Rosberg.

Right, and Button mentioned that as well. Rosberg may be able to match or come close to hamilton when the car is good on that particular weekend, but when the car is not so good Hamilton is one of the few that can extract a lot more out of it, hence Button's point. In a separate article Button also said he had the mp4-27 was the worst McLaren of his years there. It's safe to say he was impressed with what Lewis was able to do this year in that car. Just food for thought.

No he didn't. He said it suited him least.

Agreed. Also I'm not sure if the previous quote was directly from Button anyway, was it not a quoted from a third party who had (apparently) been talking to Button?

Anyway, good to see Button has been introduced to the argument, I've missed that lately...

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

"I think it's a clear indication of the aspirations of the team. We've had probably one of the greatest drivers of all time driving for us, who was clearly in age terms reaching the later part of his career when he arrived with us," Fry told AUTOSPORT.

"[Hamilton's arrival] is very exciting for the team and also puts a lot of pressure on because Ross [Brawn] has to provide him with a very good car.

"He can't win with a car which is duff. He can win with a car that is not quite the best, but the competition is such that you can't bridge a huge gap."

"Certainly in my view, Lewis and Fernando Alonso are the two best drivers,"

"And I think Lewis is still in that category of being a driver you could give not quite the best car and he could still win races, whereas most of the other drivers in the Formula 1 field will probably win the race if you give them the best car."

As I said, Rosberg is toasted. When Mercedes CEO Nick Fry is saying that Schumacher was long past his best, Rosberg won only because he had the best car, but Hamilton is the only driver alongside Alonso who can win in not the best car and Mercedes has obligation to provide him very good car, then you know Nico Rosberg will be number 2 driver in Mercedes.

Just imagine it. You are Nico Rosberg and you just woke up to read that your boss is saying Ferrari driver and recently signed McLaren driver are the best in F1 and you are not. I know I would feel a little disreputable.

Well jenson button recently said that rosberg will be surprised by hamiltons outright speed. so i'd tend to believe the one guy who can best attest to hamilton's speed since he raced alongside him for three years.

He's never been team mates with Rosberg in an F1 car though, so no one knows yet how he will compare with a modern day F1 Nico Rosberg.

Right, and Button mentioned that as well. Rosberg may be able to match or come close to hamilton when the car is good on that particular weekend, but when the car is not so good Hamilton is one of the few that can extract a lot more out of it, hence Button's point. In a separate article Button also said he had the mp4-27 was the worst McLaren of his years there. It's safe to say he was impressed with what Lewis was able to do this year in that car. Just food for thought.

No he didn't. He said it suited him least.

Agreed. Also I'm not sure if the previous quote was directly from Button anyway, was it not a quoted from a third party who had (apparently) been talking to Button?

Anyway, good to see Button has been introduced to the argument, I've missed that lately...

"I think it's a clear indication of the aspirations of the team. We've had probably one of the greatest drivers of all time driving for us, who was clearly in age terms reaching the later part of his career when he arrived with us," Fry told AUTOSPORT.

"[Hamilton's arrival] is very exciting for the team and also puts a lot of pressure on because Ross [Brawn] has to provide him with a very good car.

"He can't win with a car which is duff. He can win with a car that is not quite the best, but the competition is such that you can't bridge a huge gap."

"Certainly in my view, Lewis and Fernando Alonso are the two best drivers,"

"And I think Lewis is still in that category of being a driver you could give not quite the best car and he could still win races, whereas most of the other drivers in the Formula 1 field will probably win the race if you give them the best car."

As I said, Rosberg is toasted. When Mercedes CEO Nick Fry is saying that Schumacher was long past his best, Rosberg won only because he had the best car, but Hamilton is the only driver alongside Alonso who can win in not the best car and Mercedes has obligation to provide him very good car, then you know Nico Rosberg will be number 2 driver in Mercedes.

Just imagine it. You are Nico Rosberg and you just woke up to read that your boss is saying Ferrari driver and recently signed McLaren driver are the best in F1 and you are not. I know I would feel a little disreputable.

Nick Fry has a long history of mixing up his friend and his mouth

First one from google

Quote:

“I am still completely confident that we can achieve the aim of winning a race this year,”

"I think it's a clear indication of the aspirations of the team. We've had probably one of the greatest drivers of all time driving for us, who was clearly in age terms reaching the later part of his career when he arrived with us," Fry told AUTOSPORT.

"[Hamilton's arrival] is very exciting for the team and also puts a lot of pressure on because Ross [Brawn] has to provide him with a very good car.

"He can't win with a car which is duff. He can win with a car that is not quite the best, but the competition is such that you can't bridge a huge gap."

"Certainly in my view, Lewis and Fernando Alonso are the two best drivers,"

"And I think Lewis is still in that category of being a driver you could give not quite the best car and he could still win races, whereas most of the other drivers in the Formula 1 field will probably win the race if you give them the best car."

As I said, Rosberg is toasted. When Mercedes CEO Nick Fry is saying that Schumacher was long past his best, Rosberg won only because he had the best car, but Hamilton is the only driver alongside Alonso who can win in not the best car and Mercedes has obligation to provide him very good car, then you know Nico Rosberg will be number 2 driver in Mercedes.

Just imagine it. You are Nico Rosberg and you just woke up to read that your boss is saying Ferrari driver and recently signed McLaren driver are the best in F1 and you are not. I know I would feel a little disreputable.

“I am still completely confident that we can achieve the aim of winning a race this year,”

April 2005. They managed two 3rd places that year.

Oh, I agree about it, but what is he doing now is effectively dissing in public driver(s) of his team in last 3 years and praising the future one, who is not even yet officially driving for them. It can be insightful and honest, but it's pretty unprofessional.

“I am still completely confident that we can achieve the aim of winning a race this year,”

April 2005. They managed two 3rd places that year.

Oh, I agree about it, but what is he doing now is effectively dissing in public driver(s) of his team in last 3 years and praising the future one, who is not even yet officially driving for them. It can be insightful and honest, but it's pretty unprofessional.

Merc get a WDC on board who realistically has a much higher chance of another WDC than Nico has of his first WDC, so obviously they are going to say anything they can to get their main driver all pumped up and excited to be with, what is in actual fact a rather mediocre team.

Well, 2013 should show how "realistic" those chances are. If Hamilton is being realistic, he will be far from "pumped up & excited" for the forthcoming season. He made an error in moving and by now he surely knows it.